Your International Mindset

Successful international business development is a question of mindset. Yes, there are also many other key components too. Such as:

• Identifying the right product to sell abroad
• Choosing the right market
• How you position your product in that new market
• The marketing you use
• Your communication
• How you adjust to your new market needs

Your mindset influences each of these steps. And your international success depends on your mindset

Your International Mindset

Your international mindset is the foundation on which you can build your international business development.  Your mindset fuels the actions you take.

This is why the right international mindset takes you farther.  It has a direct impact on your international success.

When you begin the process of acquiring an international mindset you will make progress.

How To Adjust Your Mindset

And, when you first start to develop international markets most people need to adjust their mindset.  You need to open your mindset to:

• Curiosity
• Flexibility
• Change
• Different logic and thought processes
• Different ways of doing things
• A quest of understanding
• Put aside your own personal prejudices long enough to see “reality” from another culture’s perspective.

This last one is often the most difficult. And this is why it usually takes a little time to acquire an international mindset.

Not Easy For Everyone

Another interesting thing to factor into your international business development…

Different people can struggle differently with adjusting their mindset.  And even if they come from the same culture.

1. Some people will do this so naturally that it is almost unnoticeable. This is a question of personality, upbringing, environment.  A general openness to personal change.
2. Most people will experience a shift in mindset as they start taking action.  They respond and learn as their world touches a different world, a different culture.
3. And there are some people that will resist a change in mindset… This is also a question of personality, upbringing, environment, culture and a general rigidity to personal change.  These people will usually blame others for their lack of success.  Or they might think that their reality is everyone’s reality too.  If they are lucky, they will later wonder why they are not making any progress, and they might progress to make the shift in mindset.

I often notice how the different cultural behavior scales seem to influence the speed and capacity of acquiring an international mindset.

Looking at these scales has a certain appeal.

But, remember, cultural generalizations can lead you down the wrong path.

The process of international business development can be put on paper.  It is a strategy.  It is actionable.  It is easy to put in place once you know what to do.

What can be more difficult than this?  The difficulty is in:

• Acquiring an international mindset.

Mindsets Are Challenged Today

But international businesses today have their mindsets challenged on several fronts. Let’s look at some examples.

First…

A marketing mindset is required for online success.  The technically minded web professionals need to acquire a marketing mindset for success.  There is no way around it.

Second…

The social web is a new mindset.  There are those that are active in social media who do not get it and they stick out like a sore thumb.  When new comers take the time to identify the right mindset, and adopt it, they become successful in social media.

Adapt To Different Environments

So how do you adapt your mindset?

It comes down to:

• Get to know the different environments you interact with.
• Understand the people in these environments.
• Understand the conversation going on in these environments.
• Adjust your own conversation and style of communication to fit in with this new environment.

And this involves your personal conversation.  Your personal communication in this environment.

That is why it is difficult to adjust your mindset.  It requires an openness and a personal commitment to change.

Mindset In Business

Following a set of actions and going through a process is easier for a business than adjusting individual mindsets.

And why does a business need to question the mindset of the people involved in their international business development?

Because if you do not have the right mindset, you cannot develop a strategy that works.  Your whole international business development strategy could:

• Take you longer
• Cost you more
• Or be wrong

International Business System Develops Your Mindset Too

This is why I developed the 8-step International Sales Road Map here on Get International Clients.  It is designed to help you acquire the right international mindset while taking action to get more international clients.

• Get International Clients is a business directory with how-to and strategy articles that feed your international mindset.
• The Get International Clients weekly newsletter is an International Sales Action Guide that also helps you acquire your international mindset.

This 8-Step International Sales Road Map is for businesses committed to:

• International business expansion
• Real communication with foreign markets
• The use of international web marketing
• International business opportunities

Read the whole story

This is part of the Get International Clients Business Guide 1 Discover Your International Business Be sure to check out the other useful tips to discover your international business.

Cindy King is a Cross-Cultural Marketer and International Sales Specialist, with over 25 years field experience in international business development. Learn how you can get more international sales